Ladislav Bláha

By Ladislav Bláha and Kateřina Pazderu

Part of the book: Agricultural Chemistry

By Ladislav Bláha and Tomáš Středa

Crop production, research of crop productivity, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses, plant disease, and pests all represent the problem of plant integrity. Plants represent an integrated system of units, which are responsible for its resistance to adverse environmental conditions on the basis of the evaluation of characteristics both aboveground and in the roots. This "complete unit" (root and shoot) has an influence on the formation of seeds, the quality of which may affect subsequent growth, development, and stress tolerance of the filial generation. Properties of the roots predominantly influence (especially at drought stress conditions) growth, development, and the metabolic processes in the aboveground part of the plant. The seed traits affect the filial generation root morphology at the beginning of the vegetation period (especially length, surface, depth of root penetration, and also root weight). In the biology of the seeds, roots, yield formation, stress tolerance, etc., attention needs to be paid to plant integrity and adaptability during variable environmental conditions. Every plant, and its traits, is a result of all the plant’s activities. This is important for plant breeding. For example, it is possible to provide selection for cultivar traits at seed germination. Quality of the embryonic traits is important for subsequent growth and development. In the juvenile phase, and in later stages, the same genotype is still active. This is is among the main reasons for studying plant integrity.

Part of the book: Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants